Fireplaces are common in houses, apartments and businesses. They have many benefits besides providing heat, such as providing an aesthetically pleasing arrangement of flames, sounds, and smells. Fireplaces come in many arrangements, some freestanding with all sides exposed and others disposed in a wall with at least one side exposed. The majority of fireplaces include one or more doors or covers that allow access to an interior area of the fireplace to adjust controls or to provide combustible material and light the combustible material or the pilot.
This access to the fireplace, however, could create safety issues. For example, a person accessing the interior of the fireplace can be burned or otherwise injured by the flames or hot surfaces. In addition, because the fireplace produces heat, it is possible for one or more exterior surfaces of the fireplace to become heated. These potentially hot exterior surfaces of the fireplace pose a risk of burns to individuals, in particular children, or damage to objects that come into contact with the surfaces.
Current fireplace design fails to provide a clearly visible warning system that indicates to an individual that a surface of the fireplace is hot. Therefore, there is a need for a fireplace unit with a warning system that warns individuals that a fireplace surface is hot.